Monday.....

My day began with some amazing pancakes.  I don't make them too often as breakfast at my house is usually more along the lines of cereal and toast, with a cup of coffee and juice or milk for the kids.

But there are times I crave something else and these were on the agenda for today.  Superb, delicious, and will have to be made very very soon, maybe Christmas morning if I don't make Cinnamon Rolls.

You can find the recipe on the food blog.

Then it was right into housework with the never ending laundry.  I sometimes wonder if we wouldn't be better off in some nudist colony somewhere.  No clothes to worry about, though the thought of burning my retinas with other visuals keep me from fully jumping into that choice LOL

Found some time to wrap a few last presents. Of all the talents God has blessed me with, I can safely say that wrapping gifts is definitely not one. And that is ok with me.


But in the middle of all my busy moments and mundane daily activities comprised of housework chores, I found myself staring at one of my favorite Christmas decorations......my Nativity scene which sits atop my TV entertainment center.

Not just for it's beauty, but for it's significance, and at this moment in time, for it's peace.

I have tried so hard to get back into normal Christmas preparations but I'm struggling. I can't help my mind from drifting to the events last week, it's like I'm stuck in this despair, in this sadness, as if I'm swimming against the current.

So I pray, constantly, fervently, repeatedly. And my eyes drift back to this simple but poignant decoration.

It makes me smile, it gives me hope, it brings me joy.

So, I move forward, push through. I'm setting my focus on Christmas in just a few days. Last minute gifts are being purchased, last minute cards are being mailed and food planning is being done.

I don't now about you all, but seeing that I'm Portuguese and my husband and children are American, we tend to do a little of both worlds so that our children can enjoy both traditions.

On my side, we celebrate on the 24th, have a great dinner, then set the dining table with a bunch of different appetizers and desserts. It's where we hang out, graze for a few hours and count down the minutes. Then we open half of the presents.

The next morning, we open the other half as my husband grew accustomed to. We have cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then a Ham dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans and some more dessert.

I think it's so important that we not only share our own traditions with our children but create our own as well.

For ourselves as a family, we always don on new pj's Christmas eve. We drink hot chocolate, we read about the birth of Christ, we make reindeer food and sprinkle it out front.   And on Christmas day we have a cake for Jesus' birthday.....and Nicholas will never let me forget to make one :)

What are your family's favorite traditions?